ORLANDO, fla. — When the season began, Nuggets rookie forward Kenneth Faried wasn’t playing at all. Now the first-round draft pick is playing crucial fourth-quarter minutes.

Faried is learning the nuances of the NBA game and earning respect from coach George Karl. Faried helped the Nuggets beat the Magic 104-101 on Sunday by grabbing a team-high nine rebounds. He blocked two shots in the final four minutes.

“Jameer (Nelson) was coming down the lane,” Faried said of his first block, “and he was hitting that shot all game, so I wanted to show him, like, ‘Hey, we’re going stop this now and we’re going to win this game.’ He was trying to take over the game. As for Ryan Anderson, he came quickly and it was shocking how quick the back cut was, but I still got up high enough and got my hand on it.”

Faried leads NBA rookies in rebounds, averaging 7.1 per game.

“It’s fun for me to outrun bigs, make coaches get mad and call timeouts,” Faried said. “And it’s fun to outrebound a guy and give him headaches and think: ‘Why is he always on the glass? Won’t he just stop?’ “

Karl said of Faried: “We don’t win the game without his energy. I don’t know how crazy his fouls and mistakes were, but I still don’t think we win the game. I’m happy he got to play at the end of the game, because we need him to be more comfortable.”

Hamilton helpful. With veteran Wilson Chandler unable to play Sunday because of a groin injury, Karl called on seldom-used rookie Jordan Hamilton. The perimeter player from Texas contributed four points and one rebound in seven minutes.

“If he ever found a way to play 15 minutes consistently, I think he’d be a big asset for our team,” teammate Al Harrington said.

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